The Dr Andrew Holness administration is facing pressure to justify Jamaica’s involvement in a controversial United States (US) deportee arrangement as political analysts raise questions about the country’s role as a transit point for third-country nationals.

Minister of National Security and Peace Dr Horace Chang on Tuesday confirmed that the Government is negotiating the US-backed arrangement but said it is not opening the country’s borders for an uncontrolled migration programme.

Chang said the safety and security of Jamaicans and visitors to the island as well as its obligations under international law “have guided every step of the discussions on this memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Jamaica and the United States of America concerning Third Country Nationals (TCNs)”.